Dalai Lama plans to step down
March 11th, 2011 - 8:12 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattDharmsala, Mar 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, has plans to step down as Tibet’s political leader. He announced on Thursday that his decision is to allow the exiled Tibetan community to vote for a new political leader.
The 75-year-old Lama made the surprising announcement during his annual speech to mark the 52nd anniversary since the failed Tibet uprising against Chinese rule.
Lama said that, “As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power… Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect.”
Lama would however remain the spiritual leader of the Tibetan community. It was feared that China might eventually exploit the exit of the Dalai Lama to create a power vacuum that might eventually lead to the loss of focus.
Samdhong Rinpoche who is the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile said the parliament might not accept the resignation of the Dalai Lama because of the obvious vacuum that it might create.
China was not moved by the announcement of the Dalai Lama saying it is just a publicity stunt to ‘trick’ the Western world.
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- Dalai Lama again turns down Tibetan exiles' plea - May 25, 2011
- Dalai Lama's plea for retiring will be discussed Tuesday (Lead) - Mar 14, 2011
- Tibetans will not change stance towards China: PM-in-exile - Mar 11, 2011
- Committee to decide on Dalai Lama's political retirement - Mar 23, 2011
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- Dalai Lama to retire, make way for elected leader (Second Lead) - Mar 10, 2011
- A year since Dalai Lama's historic transition - Mar 08, 2012
- Tibetans committed to struggle: PM of government-in-exile - Mar 11, 2011
- Exiles celebrate Dalai Lama's birthday (Lead) - Jul 06, 2011
- Dalai Lama finally relinquishes political powers (Lead) - May 30, 2011
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Tags: 1960s, anniversary, china, chinese rule, dalai lama, parliament, political leader, power vacuum, prime minister, publicity stunt, resignation, samdhong rinpoche, tibet uprising, tibetan community, tibetan government in exile, tibetan spiritual leader